José - an exemplary youth

José currently lives at SOS Youth Facility Estelí and is in his fifth year of high school and computing at SOS Hermann Gmeiner School Estelí.

Yessenia, José's SOS mother devoted her life to several children from the SOS Children's Village Estelí. She speaks of him with love and pride, 'When I took in the boy, he was already twelve years old; he was starting his adolescence. He has always been a very peaceful child, respectful and loving in addition to being very helpful.

Talking about her role, she puts the emphasis on helping with teaching children values, particularly the fact that they have to prepare for taking on responsibility.

At SOS Hermann Gmeiner School Estelí (Photo: Marianela Jaramillo)

In plain terms, the SOS mother says, 'To José, work is no difficult thing at all, much less a problem; he has always liked order and there is no need for mending things; he really is very special.'

The greatest pleasure, passion and dream of this young man is to become a famous footballer; since he was a little child he has been playing football in school and with his neighbours. Today, he belongs to the football team at the centre he studies at. There, he has always excelled as a good student: his average rating has been between 80 and 100.

Yessenia rejoices, saying, 'I am so glad to see him so excited now taking pictures! He has taken a lot of pictures depicting all parts of the house. He's trying very hard.'

José says: 'To me, home is a place where the family gets together, which we must rely on. Here we develop physically, intellectually and psychologically; it's a place where we rely on each other to solve problems together'. He reaffirms saying, 'To me, the difference between house and home is very significant, the house is a material object which provides refuge'.

His twelve-year-old biological brother Orlando also likes to refer to José. He remembers the moments shared with his brother with a lot of emotion, how they had fun and played football every day.

Orlando pleasantly remembers, 'The most fun I remember was when doing mischief; we used to go from house to house knocking on doors, we had fun surprising people! But that was when we were very small', stresses Orlando.

José always visits his family on weekends and spends happy moments playing football, talking and listening to music.

Article written by Marjorie Carrillo Ayala, community facilitator at SOS Social Centre Juigalpa Oeste